I do not have a high opinion of Rev. Don Armstrong, or the shenanigans at Grace & St Stephens in Colorado Springs. But this most definitely doesn’t fall into the “What Would Jesus Do?” category.
The Sunday morning service at a breakaway Episcopal parish was disrupted when the man threw the pie at the pastor, police said.
Marcus Hyde, 18, was released but faces potential misdemeanor charges of harassment, trespassing, criminal mischief and disrupting a lawful assembly, police Sgt. Vince Niski said.
Witnesses told police a man entered a side door of Grace Church and St. Stephen’s Parish during the service and tossed the pie at the Rev. Donald Armstrong III, who ducked.
Parishioners chased the suspect and were holding him in front of the church when officers arrived, police said.
The suspect said he was passing judgment on Armstrong for his fellow parishioners, according to a police report. Hyde declined to comment when reached by phone Sunday night.
I don’t have to be a religious conservative or a liberal to know those sorts of stunts are not only unChristian but don’t help any cause the perp thinks he was supporting. Indeed, I have little doubt that this will be, if not a rallying cry, at least an episode that comes up in conversation ad infinitum amongst Rev Armstrong’s supporters in the future. As if they needed any prompting to ridicule their opponents …
(The thought of this as a legitimate means of expression in this context is so ludicrous that, to be honest, the paranoid in me wonders if it was staged. But that thought strikes me as unChristian as well, without any proof …)
(via BD)
More pie details. I’m disappointed by the folks who think throwing a pie in the middle of a church service is an acceptable expression of religious dissent, even if it’s because it’s a far less violent expression than some might choose.